San Rafael, CA – As it heads into his fifth year, the County of Marin’s Career Explorer Youth Program is adapting to the pandemic times and opening up virtual internships.
Dan Daniels, one of the Career Explorers' founders, continues to mentor young people in retirement. With a strong motivation to fostering
equity and fair opportunity, the Career Explorers program teaches vocational skills and offers work experience for those between ages 16 and 22. Recruitment is underway through May 31.
This year’s internship program will teach youths how to design their own internship program. Elements of previous experiences will remain in place, like career exploration with appearances from guest speakers. Placements at various County of Marin departments may also be available at some point in the new year depending on the progress of fending off the spread of the COVID-19 emergency.
Also, the internships may be extended beyond the eight-week summer period. Interns may apply by filling out the online application.
“We are looking at bringing youths the full experience of the program, which includes networking events and internship summits from the North Bay area,” said Luis Luciano, Employment Development Counselor with the Marin County Probation Department. “We’ll see how long that takes. We did not want to lose momentum with this program because of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Young people need this program now more than ever, and it’s valuable to our County employees to help guide these young people toward a possible career in government.”
The Probation Department collaborates with the County’s Department of Human Resources and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to offer the program.
One of the most valuable facets of the program is introductory employment training such as resume writing, interview preparation, public speaking, and best practices for completing job applications. The young people learn about cultural competency, bias, generational differences in the workplace, and conflict resolution. Luciano said four past interns have continued contributing for the County in part-time paid capacities.
Interns will have 1.5 hours of virtual instruction, then will work for 1.5 hours independently on assigned projects for this year’s program. Participants will earn $14 per hour during the experience.
A key objective of the program is to provide opportunities to youths who reside in communities and/or circumstances that traditionally present barriers to employment. That may include personal experiences with the juvenile justice system, family members with experience in either the juvenile or adult justice systems, or residence in neighborhoods often impacted by crime.
The program was borne from the County’s 5 Year Business Plan, which includes the focus areas of “diversity and inclusion” and “growth and development.” The Career Explorer program creates a diverse, skilled, and local candidate pool for employment opportunities in a manner that promotes growth and development.
The Probation Department uses funds from a state grant to cover the costs of stipends, work uniforms, food, transportation and supervision for the interns. Departments that employ the interns also contribute to the cost of the program.
To learn more about the program or to obtain a printed application, contact Development Counselor Luis Luciano.